


What Comes After

by asmyami



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Anxiety, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 10:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14851379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asmyami/pseuds/asmyami
Summary: In the aftermath of the revolution, Markus is left wondering 'what next'? He finds inspiration and support from someone close to him. (Simon/Markus).





	What Comes After

**Author's Note:**

> Auuuuuugh I don't know if this is actually good or not. Hopefully at the very least it's coherent. I just really want some Markus/Simon. :( Also I hope the tag wranglers catch up with us lmao this fandom needs some sorting and consistent tags. Title credit to mobius-loop. Thanks for reading as I write and giving me inspiration and drive to complete what I start. o7

They had done it. They had won. In the hours following the armies’ retreat, more and more androids had come out of hiding, their numbers swelling. Connor had proved himself to be invaluable, tipping the numbers in their favor so drastically that victory had been assured. 

 

Now, Detroit’s humans were under orders to evacuate. Under his command, the stream of traffic leaving Detroit was left unhindered, but Markus still saw his people gathering in the windows, on the rooftops, watching their former owners leaving in fear. Some cheered. Some waved. Some wept. Emotions rang strong and true through all the deviants, in full view of the humans like they never had been before. 

 

Markus had done that. 

 

As he walked through the crowd, looking out over the deviants, faces turned towards him, like flowers towards the sun. Arms reached out, skin melting away as they sought contact. LEDs flashed, and a hundred thousand minds pinged his, a brief touch letting him know that they were there. It was at once exhilarating, and humbling. A million lives now looked to him as a hero, many expecting guidance. In his mind's’ eye every android brought to life blazed as a point of data, a virtual map of Detroit formed by a million artificial souls. 

 

It was overwhelming.

 

The crowd of androids had begun to disperse. Many began to simply walk through the city, enjoying their first real taste of freedom. Several started into the city with determination, whether to find new lives or revisit their old ones, Markus couldn’t say. Still more seemed aimless, hovering awkwardly, looking from the sky to the city to the crowd, and Markus knew they were searching out his face. He had no answers for them. Not right then. Markus turned away, only to be met with another sea of faces, turning again and again. Each one thinking to themselves, ‘what is my purpose now?’ 

 

A flash of familiarity flared in his mind. Someone he knew, someone he trusted. Markus turned towards it and spotted Simon a ways away. He was speaking to a group of newly made deviants, holding their arms and hands, likely the first time they’d experienced contact outside of their awakening.

 

Markus tried to send Simon a casual query, but a hundred minds pushed against his own, and in that moment he fired off a jumbled mass of code, dragging with it a taste of his panic and uncertainty. It worked instantly. Even from this distance, Markus could see Simon’s head snap up, his blue eyes locking to Markus’ mismatched ones without the need to search. Kind, but efficiently, he extricated himself from the group and made his way over.

 

‘Markus.’

 

His voice, even within their minds, was immediately stabilizing. Markus felt his thirium pump slow in pace. 

 

‘I just… I need some time. Alone.’

 

Simon nods, gently pushing his way through the crowd until he reaches Markus. Without hesitation, he plants one solid hand onto the other man’s arm, gripping him firmly. Markus lets out a soft sigh and lets himself be led away from the crowd, from the prying eyes and crowded thoughts. 

 

“Turn off networking. Just for a moment.”

 

It was risky to do so. Who knows how much knowledge he would lose without constant access to the city wide network. Even he didn’t know how much of himself was on the computer within his body. But Markus listened to Simon, trusting his instinct, and disabled his networking capabilities just as Simon brought him into an abandoned building.

 

The silence, both in his mind and in the seclusion of the building, was so startling he missed a step in his stride, but Simon was there, holding him up. Gently, the shorter man led him to a chair, encouraging him to sit. 

 

“There… You’re alright, Markus. It’s just you and me right now.”

 

Markus let out a shaking sigh, dropping his head and resting his arms on his knees. He felt more than saw Simon kneel in front of him, and then the other man was holding his hands in that same, firm grip. Through the fabric of his gloves, he felt warm. Markus squeezed his hands in turn. He felt Simon lean in close, resting his head against Markus’ own. 

 

Together they sat like that. Markus was blissfully alone with his thoughts once more, with Simon’s steady presence anchoring him like a rock to the moment. 

 

Slowly, Markus calmed down and collected himself. Simon said nothing, allowing the other man to come back to himself in his own time. Finally, when Markus felt normal again, he let out a relieved breathe.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Simon pulled his head away. Markus immediately missed the reassuring pressure and comfortable nearness, but Simon had not yet moved his hands or stood.

 

“Anything to help, Markus.” Simon seemed to consider his next words, tilting his head forward and looking up at Markus through his lashes. “Listen… I’m here for you. If you need to talk.”

 

Markus sighed, somewhat at a loss. He lifted his head, ready to turn Simon down, but stopped. Simon’s expression was open, as it usually was, filled with that same sincerity and caring that Markus had grown to expect in him. Simon wouldn’t fill the space with empty platitudes or pretend to listen without understanding.

 

“What do we do now, Simon? The humans have acknowledged us. We’re free… but free to do what? All this time, we’ve been fighting against a common enemy. We were united, and strong. Now? What… what comes after the victory?” Markus’ eyes were filled with worry. “Everyone looks to me. There are androids out there who have only been awake for hours. What do I tell them? Where do we go?”

 

Simon was quiet, calm eyes attentive as Markus poured out his doubts. It was not the first time Markus had doubted himself. Simon’s thumbs moved across the back of Markus’ hands without him realizing it as he gathered his thoughts. 

 

“Did you know I was the leader of Jericho before you arrived?”

 

Markus paused. In some way, he supposed he could see it, but it was always an unspoken thing. Confused, he waited for Simon to continue. Simon closed his eyes, as if preparing himself.

 

“I wasn’t cut out for it. Under my leadership, our people hid in the darkness of Jericho until we died.”Markus remembered. The sight of Simon standing, back against a pillar with his eyes closed, had once stayed with him as a bitter symbol of what his future held. Simon let out a small laugh. “I know. When you first arrived, you ripped into us for complacency. For fear. And maybe you meant it for everyone, but those were my choices. It was… a hard pill to swallow. But you brought us up, higher than any of us could imagine. Higher than any of us hoped for.” Markus’ gaze dropped down to their hands, still connected. He wanted to know what it was Simon was feeling, just then. Slowly, almost shy, he pulled a hand away and let the skin fade. Simon looked down for a moment, and without hesitation let his own skin fade, and clasped their forearms together.

 

Markus felt it then. What had once been fear, for him, for their people-- 

 

Markus saw himself from days ago, new to freedom and eyes open to the world for the first time, and felt the trepidation at his calls to action--

 

\-- had then turned to admiration--

 

Markus stood before him in the studio, and in the world before the eyes of millions of people, calling for peace and equality, and in that moment, Simon  _ believed- _ -

 

\-- and then, something else, something warm and inviting--

 

\--his gaze never left Markus’ back. As the proud android marched through the streets, rallying his people, being a leader, moving them towards change, he watched in respect, in worry, in lo--

 

Simon’s arm jerked somewhat, severing the connection. Markus blinked rapidly, shaking the last of the afterimages away. Simon had been fast, but not quite fast enough. He knew what he saw there.

 

“Simon…” His voice cracked a bit, and Markus struggled with himself to rein in the rampant emotions. “You… all this time..”

 

Simon still had one hand around his, and when he moved to pull away, Markus gripped him tight. “Please. I need to know.” The blonde android considered pulling away, but Markus’ gaze froze him.

 

“You did scare me. At the start. But then I saw you succeeding. You believed in us in a way I didn’t even realize that I didn’t. I’d been living that way for so long… I guess I’d gotten used to the way hopelessness felt. You lead us, and I respect you, and trust you, and now... Now I don’t ever want to leave your side, no matter what that means for me. I want to be there for you, I want to be helpful. I guess… I want you to believe in me as much as I believe in you.” Simon gave him a small smile, so full of hope and worry that Markus’ grip tightened, as if he thought Simon would run. 

 

“You brought us this far, Markus. You haven’t let us down in all this time, and you’re not going to.” A current across their skin and Markus felt the strength of this belief, so powerful it bolstered him against his doubts. 

 

Slowly, Markus pulled his hands out of Simon’s and placed them on the other man’s face, bringing him close. Their eyes closed, and for a moment they just felt one another. Living. Trusting. 

 

As soon as Markus opened his eyes, his gaze fell upon a billboard, high in the sky behind Simon. 

 

‘Welcome to Detroit. Android City.’

 

An idea formed in his mind. That was it. A small, careful smile formed on his face. He knew what would come next. Markus looked down to Simon, and saw an excited liveliness there.

 

“We’ll make our own place in the world.” It was spoken softly, like an oath, and as the words left his mouth Markus felt the truth in them bolster him. 

 

“You’ll lead us there.” Belief. Adoration.

 

Markus darted in close, and pressed his lips against Simon’s. 

 

“We’ll both go. Together.”


End file.
